Tonight’s sky
When it gets dark, what the moon’s doing, and which planets are up — for planning a night under the stars.
Waning gibbous · 99% lit
Bright moon — great for the Moon and planets; faint objects wash out.
Next 7 nights — tap a night to see it
Darker nights (lower %) are best for galaxies and nebulae. Tap any night to see its darkness, moon, planets and ISS passes.
Darkness tonight
- Sunset20:51
- Civil twilight ends21:32
- Nautical twilight ends22:27
- Fully dark — a session can start23:46
- First light — dark ends02:27
- Nautical twilight (dawn)03:46
- Civil twilight (dawn)04:41
- Sunrise05:22
Moon
A bright 99%-lit moon is up through much of the night — best for the Moon, planets and bright targets; faint objects wash out.
Rises 21:23 · sets 05:58
Planets tonight (the eyepiece)
- SaturnWell-placed just before dawn (around 05:22) — in the south.rises 23:03highest 05:22 (42°)sets 11:47
- MarsWell-placed just before dawn (around 05:22) — in the east.rises 01:38highest 05:22 (32°)sets 18:08
- VenusLow in the evening twilight (around 20:51) — in the west, a bright evening/morning object.rises 09:41highest 20:51 (13°)sets 22:18
- MercuryJust catchable low before dawn in the east — a tricky one.rises 03:56highest 05:22 (12°)sets 19:37
Not visible at night from London tonight: Jupiter.
ISS passes (naked eye)
No visible ISS passes over London tonight.
Coming up
- Perseids meteor shower12 August · in 13 daysPeak night. The summer favourite — up to ~100/hour, warm nights.
- Total solar eclipse12 August · in 13 daysOnly visible along a narrow track on Earth — check whether it passes near you (never look at the Sun unprotected).
- Partial lunar eclipse28 AugustA shadow crosses part of the Moon — visible wherever the Moon is up at the time.
- Orionids meteor shower21 OctoberPeak night. Halley’s Comet again, ~20/hour.
- Leonids meteor shower17 NovemberPeak night. Fast and bright, ~15/hour.
Meteor showers are best on a moonless night away from town lights — use the moon panel above to judge. Eclipse and shower dates are worldwide; whether it’s above your horizon depends on your location and time.
Every time is shown in London’s own local clock, with daylight saving applied for the date. “—” means the event doesn’t occur (for example, some nights the moon doesn’t rise); “stays light” means the sky never reaches that stage (northern summer). ISS pass times use live orbital data and show only passes visible to the naked eye (bright enough, in a dark-enough sky). Planet visibility is judged during the genuinely-dark window, not by a daytime high point — so a planet only appears here when you could actually see it.